


Hospital Visits

by thereisnocowboyemoji



Category: Red Dead Redemption
Genre: Alternate Universe: Modern, Arthur is a worrier, Charles is a pediatric nurse, Charles is calming, Established Relationship, M/M, Modern AU, OC, They love each other, him and Arthur have a son, mention of past child abuse, ohh they're married, though it's not about their son, uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-20 01:25:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17612795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thereisnocowboyemoji/pseuds/thereisnocowboyemoji
Summary: Charles gets a surprise visit from his husband and son at work.





	Hospital Visits

**Author's Note:**

> :) Enjoy!!!

Charles was humming.

He was taking the vitals of a little girl who had been admitted for a nasty car wreck about two days earlier. Luckily, she had received minimal damage and was going to be fine, back to 100% in no time. They had just decided to keep her for a few days just in case anything out of the ordinary or unexpected happened.

The first time that Charles had tried to stick the IV in her arm, she started crying, frantic and loud. He had acted on instinct and without even realizing it he had started singing. It was some old song that he doesn't even remember the name to anymore but it always calms his patients (and his own son) down so he keeps singing it.

He stops humming long enough to say "Alright, Maria. You should get to go home in the next day or two." But when he looks up the little girl is fast asleep, snoring softly. He smiles, gently. Her dad was in the cafeteria getting the both of them some food so Charles can just run down there and tell him the good news.

He starts putting everything away as quietly as he can and leaves her room, shutting the door gently behind him.

He's on his way to go find Maria's dad but when he walks by the waiting room he's stopped by not one, but two recognizable faces.

"Arthur?" The man in question looks up, his eyebrows furrowed for half a second before realization kicks in. Arthur nods in greeting to his husband and Charles' eyes fall to the kid asleep in his lap. His arm is at a weird angle and he notices that his face is red and puffy, like he'd been crying. Charles was at his husband's side in a heartbeat, sitting in the empty chair next to him as he brushed a curl out of his son's face. "What happened?" 

Charles' eyes flicked to his husband long enough to see his expression absolutely ridden with guilt.

"It was all my fault, Charles." Arthur's choice was deep, but quiet and it flooded over Charles' ears like rainwater. No matter what was going on in their lives, Arthur's voice was Charles' biggest comfort.

So he was torn up inside with how absolutely devastated it sounded right now.

Charles rested a hand on Arthur's forearm, rubbing the skin softly in hopes of giving his husband some comfort. "What happened, love?"

"We were just playin'. Uh, runnin' around in the backyard and I was tossin' him the ball and-" Arthur's voice cracked and he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. 

"I'm sure whatever happened wasn't your fault, Arthur." Charles spoke, his voice gentle. They were both talking quietly, wanting to not wake their son up or disturb the somber silence of the waiting room.

"I threw the ball and he was runnin' and he tripped and just..he started cryin' real hard and I thought...well, hell, I don't know what I thought but. But he landed on his arm all wonky and when I got a good look at it it was like," Arthur pointed a hand at Miles' arm, where the bone was very clearly not where it was supposed to be. "I'm so sorry, Charles. I got us here as fast as I could. I shoulda been payin' more attention to where he was goin', he tripped over that damn hose you kept tellin' me to wrap up but I never did and now he's broken his arm and...shit." 

Arthur muttered the last word as he looked away, tears filling his eyes.

"I ain't meant to be a father."

Charles frowned. 

"Absolutely not, Arthur." His husband looked up, hurt and betrayal etched across his face at Charles' words. "You weren't the one who broke his arm. You have never raised a hand to our son and that alone makes you a better father than both mine and yours. You feel guilty because you care. You love Miles and anyone who talks to you can clearly see that. I'm pretty sure the barista at Dunkin Donuts knows more about our son than I do." Charles smiled when Arthur gave a watery laugh, quickly wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater. Charles squeezed his arm. "You're a good father, Arthur. The best one our son could ask for."

His husband nodded, collecting himself. Charles knew that Arthur's insecurities about being a bad father ran deep and it would take several more conversations and consoling before Arthur would even begin to think about believing Charles. But it was a fight that Charles was ready and willing for.

"Now, how about we take Miles to get X-rayed so we know exactly what the problem is and we can patch him up. And you can stay with him the whole time, for your sake." Charles gave Arthur a soft smile, standing up as Arthur woke up Miles.

Charles led the two of them to the X-Ray room, humming quietly as he set up the equipment. Arthur wasn't paying attention to him, instead focusing on their son. He had one of his big hands holding Miles' much smaller one and he was whispering to him. 

"I'm gonna be here the whole time, buddy, okay? Just squeeze my hand if you get scared." 

Miles shook his head, curls bouncing.

"I'm not scared, daddy. You're here with me. You'll protect me." 

Miles gave Arthur a mega-watt smile and Charles caught his husband's eye, mouthing 'I told you so.' 

Arthur just sniffled in response, quickly blinking away any incriminating evidence of tears.


End file.
